Queen
by katerinagilbert
Summary: Sequel to Safe! Rebekah has stolen Klaus's throne, and Caroline is dead...for now. Full of angst, and a bit of an epic love story. Some mini-lemons may follow, but the rating is mainly because this is a DARK FIC. You've been warned. Canon through 4x20 "The Originals" AU from there onward, and does not include anything from "The Originals" TV series premiering this fall.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Here's the prologue again for those of you who have read Safe. First chapter is posted, and more will soon follow! :)

**Prologue**

Klaus hadn't moved in ten days. After leaving most of New Orleans in flames and hemorrhaging, he returned to Caroline's body. Her heart had been placed carefully back into her chest . . . almost lovingly . . . he returned her still heart into its cavity by the same hand, which had ripped it from her breast.

Klaus hadn't moved in ten days.

Rebekah had taken over his kingdom and stolen his throne.

Elijah was even returning to New Orleans to reclaim his place as part of the Royal Family . . .

. . . without Klaus.

Niklaus Michaelson was numb. All of his rage—all of his sorrow had melted into numbness and all-consuming pain.

Klaus hadn't moved in ten days and there was a queen in New Orleans . . . for now.


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: **Here you go guys! Chapter One of Queen! :) It will be a multi-chaptered story, and chapters will be really short, but frequent. I will post them as soon as I finish writing them. Please R&R! :) Thanks! 3, Kat

**Chapter One**

Rebekah was happy.

Elijah was smug.

Klaus was numb.

And Caroline? Caroline was dead. She was decomposing and slowly flaking into dust as Klaus watched, unable to move. He had become a statue, desiccating little by little as the stolen blood in his body started to die. Caroline and Klaus were becoming an art piece, a painful reminder of a love lost . . .

. . . and Rebekah was building an Empire.

Every Empire requires an Empress.

In chess, it is the Queen, not the King with the most power. While the King is restricted to one square per move, the Queen can reach to every corner of the board, heading an unlimited number of squares in any one direction. A Queen can oversee her Empire, while a King is chained to his throne, and vulnerable to attack. Yet, a Queen could fall, and the game would continue. The game of kingdoms wasn't over until the King fell. A Queen had two duties: to protect her King, and to demolish the other King. She was Protector of the Realm, or a King-Killer. The game didn't end until a King was dead.

But what happens when the King can't die?

On the Other Side, Caroline watched. She saw everything, but could not act, not yet. She still had business to complete in the supernatural hell before she was ready, before Klaus was ready to welcome her into the realm of the living again. Soon, but not yet.

In life, Caroline had been a Pawn, controlled by others, and trapped in the game. Pawns were often sacrificed to protect the more important pieces. They were one of a great many, and like foot soldiers at the front, fell quickly and without much note. But a select few Pawns soldiered through to promotion. They had fought their way through the board to reach the opposing side, and were rewarded with promotion. Even the lowliest Pawn could become a Queen.

The game was not over. The King had not fallen, and the Queen would rise from the dead.


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N:** Here's another chapter for you guys. Like I said, they will be short chapters, but updates will be quick! :) Please R&R as always. I really appreciate hearing your feedback.

**Chapter Two**

Elijah was beginning to worry. Two weeks ago, Klaus had vanished from Caroline's impromptu grave and no one had spotted him since. Normally, this wouldn't be uncommon, as the thousand year old vampire was much more stealthy than most of the newborns in New Orleans, but Elijah had sent a dozen of the oldest and most loyal vampires to track Klaus's movements. He would have to deal with them later. It was if Klaus had simply melted into the ground and sunk directly into hell. He had to be out there somewhere, even if his being in hell was preferable to fantasize about. Klaus, even in his weakened state was a force to be reckoned with.

But, despite his disappearance, there was no need to worry Rebekah yet. Not until Elijah could control the situation and provide her with details. Her throne wasn't yet threatened, he was sure of that. The only threat to her reign was Elijah himself, and he was more content to let her take the outer appearance of ruling, and play in the background with her puppet strings. Poor sweet Rebekah had no idea that her noble brother was the real power behind the throne.

The Empress' Mardi Gras was pulling to a close, bringing with it the bleak and tempting Lent. Masks were slipping showing the false paint underneath. Could a false Queen really be a King-Killer? Or was she simply a Queen in disguise, really a Pawn?

Before the Queen was a Queen, the chess piece was named the Minister. In this game of kingdoms, the Minister might just come out and play.

In the mean time, Elijah had a few vampires to deal with and a witch to call on.

"Prepare the vervain pits. And get Thèrese. I have a brother to find."


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since an update. This isn't my best work, or my favorite version of Chapter Three, but I'm trying to keep things a little less graphic and dark here on FFN. If you want to see the dark dark version, I'll consider emailing it to those of you who want it, so send me a PM if you want to see the true twisted-ness of Not so Sexy Bexy's mind. In the mean time, I'm posting this for you now so that you have an update a little faster, and will continue to work today on some better chapters. **

**Chapter Three**

Rebekah was holding court, which for most was a terrifying prospect. Court meant another play for the amusement of the Queen. She took great pleasure from the degradation of her servants, and would not hesitate to compel them if they did not obey her instructions to the letter. Sometimes, the plays were nothing more than a simple humiliation of a noble fallen out of favor, such as having to stand naked before the court and wait hand and foot on the Queen. But, with rapidly increasing frequency, the plays were sexual in nature. It began with the request to pleasure her, as Rebekah enjoyed having others watch her ecstasy. However, after watching more than one of her courtiers pleasure themselves as punishment before the crowd, she realized she was a voyeur, and soon began forcing her nobles to engage in orgies for her amusement.

Klaus and Caroline was the furthest thing from Rebekah's mind, as she tortured her court, blissfully unaware of the dangers that lurked in her very own bedroom. Elijah was beginning to worry that Rebekah's reign was slipping, and was getting his pawns in place. He should have suspected that she was nothing more than an indulgent child, and for her to hold her own throne was nearly impossible. As much as the thought detested him, he might have to take a more visible role in the ruling of the kingdom if the Michaelsons were to remain the dominant power in New Orleans.

Caroline felt dizzy. She couldn't seem to stand very well, and was half slouched against a wall. The scent of blood hit her nostrils, but instead of making her fangs retract and send her into a pang of hunger, the scent was nauseating. In fact, it made her want to flee the area, but she was somehow unable to move. Groggily, she opened her eyes, and saw with a shock that the blood was her own, emanating from a rather large hole in her chest. She attempted to lift her arm to check the hole, and found that she was unable to move, and panicked, screaming, but her lips wouldn't move. Her eyes cast about the room, and she realized that her motion was limited to her eyes, and even that took monumental effort. Caroline couldn't remember much, but she knew something was wrong as she slid out of consciousness.


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N: And the plot thickens...Here's another update pretty quick for all of you lovelies (and this chapter is better than the last)! R&R! Thanks! 3, Kat**

**Chapter Four**

Klaus was frozen. His senses were communicating a different reality than his mind. He could smell the death and decay rising from Caroline's body, and feel her cold flesh beneath his hands. He saw the empty cavity in her chest and his ears rung with the stony silence of death. Ashes and dust coated his tongue, as he tasted with a bitter resignation the desiccation of his own body. Yet, his mind was in a whole different place.

To the onlooker, Klaus had simply vanished. He appeared to be nowhere, and his scent disappeared from where he crouched, frozen, at the feet of his lady love. In reality, his essence was making the long journey to the Other Side. It seemed, desiccation was not in the witches' plan for Klaus.

Grams looked on from the Other Side with Bonnie.

"Are you sure you wish to make this sacrifice?" she asked her granddaughter.

"Yes, Grams, I'm sure. I've had years to spend with Jeremy, and visiting him now, seeing him happy with his own family, it's painful. Caroline, well, Caroline deserves happiness, true happiness, and well, maybe it's time I've moved on."

Grams kissed Bonnie's forehead, and gave her one last hug before chanting in Latin. Bonnie began to fade away and in her mind's eye, Grams could see Caroline begin to stir in the Mortal Realm. It would take time, but piece by piece, the Bennett witch line was returning Caroline's humanity to what it was before Katherine stole it away. Bonnie traded her powers for Caroline's life, allowing Bonnie to move on out of the Other Side, and Caroline to begin a new life, as a powerful witch.

The spell only needed one last sacrifice to take hold. The balance of nature would be disrupted and a price needed to be paid. It would take more than just the Bennett witches to raise the dead...

"Mother?"

"Klaus."


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: Yet another update for you lovelies! :) Please R&R, I love hearing your comments and suggestions. This story is wrapping to a close, but the series isn't quite done yet. 3, Kat**

**Chapter Five**

Thèrese opened her eyes a miniscule fraction, attempting to see both worlds in the same moment. Occasionally, it was successful, and she was able to see the Other Side and the Mortal Realm to better keep an eye on both. With the dangers approaching in both realms, she was weary to take her eyes off of either for even the span of a second. Dangers were approaching, and quickly.

Wearily, she crawled to her feet and dragged her paralyzed stumps of legs towards her prosthetics. Although very much ensconced in traditional witchcraft, she had fully embraced the technologies of the twenty-first century. As a balance for her extraordinary powers, the Powers had taken away her beautiful legs before she was born, ensuring that while she was powerful supernaturally and mentally, she was next to useless physically. When she had emerged from the womb, her mother had screamed at the mangled flesh that appeared. Thèrese looked like a monster.

But, she was gifted.

Conventionally blind, Thèrese could see magic as well as the Other Side. And she knew a storm was brewing that would shake both worlds to threatened to end the supernatural world as it existed. After 1,100 years it seemed that the Originals were in for quite a few surprises.

Thèrese could sense that Elijah was approaching, but she knew his arrival would come too tardy to make an impact on the maelstrom about to descend on New Orleans. The rules of the game were changing, and there was little the players could do to keep all hell from breaking loose.

She heard the soft rustle of Elijah's silk shirt not far from her cave, and turned her head towards the opening. His internal magic had grown since she had last seen him ten years ago, which she strongly suspected was from the power he had leeched off Rebekah and Klaus. He had always been the true power within the family, but she hadn't seen such a concentration on him since her birth.

"I know what you seek."

For several moments, the only sounds from within the cave were their breathing, one even and slow, and the other erratic and gasping. Then, spasmodic coughing.

"Then kill the bitch, keep her dead, whatever it takes."

"I cannot."

"Pity," he sneered, reaching out and ripping her heart from her chest, and squeezing until it burst in his hands with a satisfying river of blood. It pooled on the floor, running through the grooves Thèrese had carved with her cane in the past few days. Elijah watched as it formed itself into a message as he looked on, horrified by the realization.

Clearly on the floor, a word had formed out of the blood from the Seer.

"Check."

His kingship was perilously close to death, but it seemed he still had one option left.


	7. Chapter Six

**A/N: I know! Two updates in one day! :) Hope you enjoy, please R&R! :) **

**Chapter Six**

Esther clasped her hands together and sighed. Such bloodshed always came from her children. The past century had not been kind to them, stripping away much of their humanity and leaving behind monsters. Although, in this case it had been necessary, much like the blood of the doppelganger, blood of the Seer was a powerful ingredient in most spells. However, unlike the doppelganger, the Seer was immortal, a fact unknown to Elijah.

Thèrese coughed as she felt a new heart regenerating in her chest. Unfortunately it was not the first such occasion. Her father had a penchant for ripping out hearts, and her first regeneration had been some hours after her birth. Upon viewing the mangled monstrous form of his only daughter, who was a disappointment after having expected a son, he had angrily attempted to sweep his spawn from the Mortal Realm. Only he and her mother knew of her immortality. Like a phoenix, when she died, she experienced all the pain and suffering of death and the excruciating rebirth.

This death, however, was voluntary. Shortly before Elijah's arrival, Esther had pulled her deeper in the Other Side and spun her tale of woe should Rebekah and Elijah remain the sovereigns of New Orleans. There were calls for a Revolution from both the aristocracy and the peasants within Rebekah's Court. Misery and oppression for hundreds of years from first Marcel, then Klaus, and finally Rebekah with her twisted games had the supernatural within the city ready to take what they rightfully thought was theirs, and gather allies along the way. Some thought it was time that the creatures of legend take their rightful place as the Kings and Queens of Humanity, allowed to kill and feed as they pleased.

Although far from ideal, Klaus, it seemed, was the solution to the problem. Klaus alongside his Queen could restore balance to the City of New Orleans and keep the malcontent from boiling over into the human world outside of the Kingdom. And so, foes became allies, as blood and magic connected them to serve a greater purpose, as unsavory as all involved might find that purpose, each had something to gain.

Caroline would find life, love, and power.

Klaus would retain both his kingdom and his lady love.

Esther would right the wrongs her love had wrought among the world.

And Thèrese? She would finally be given a full body.

But what were the stakes in this deadly game? The fate of humanity.


End file.
